Common Sense Note
This movie is not recommended for anyone under 17. Yes, kids love to be scared, but the violence here is so disturbingly realistic that it's too much for most older kids (and some adults) to handle. The various murders are definitely graphic (we get to see the flesh rip and the organs exposed) but the suicide scene is so disturbing that several people walked out of the theater immediately afterwards. Violence aside, there's still no reason to see this movie--the story doesn't make much sense, the acting is mediocre at best, and even at 98 minutes, it feels way too long. Bottom line: Save your money!
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Common Sense Media
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is a remake of a 1974 low-budget horror movie by the same name. The original movie about 5 Texas teens who stumble across a family of cannibals was considered extremely edgy when it was released, but it now seems downright quaint when compared to modern horror movies such as this--despite the grisly nature of the story, there wasn't much actual bloodshed or gore shown. How times have changed!
In this version, the movie is still set in 1973, but you would never know it by the fashions and hairstyles of the hip young cast. They're on their way to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert in Dallas, but get slowed down when they pick up a hitchhiker who blows her brains out all over their van. The gory events that follow the suicide (which involve Leatherface, a disfigured man who uses human flesh for a mask, his chainsaw, and his equally crazy family) don't make a ton of sense, and it doesn't really matter--it's all just an excuse to bring on the blood and guts.
Jessica Biel (of Seventh Heaven fame) leads the cast of doomed characters, but considering she's the biggest name in the movie, you're pretty certain that she's going to stick around the longest. After all, if she were killed off too soon, we wouldn't be treated to the many gratuitous shots of her wet white tank top. The rest of the cast isn't memorable at all with the exception of R. Lee Ermey's portrayal of the "Sheriff" (his untraditional crime scene procedures, such as making sexual jokes about the victim as he carelessly wraps her body in Saran-Wrap, hint that he's not exactly what he seems).
In short, there's no reason to take your kids to see this movie. It's extremely violent and bloody, the profanity never stops, the characters aren't particularly likeable, and the story doesn't make sense--mature teens and adults would be better off watching the original movie.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentThe sheriff brags about sexually assaulting female corpses. Some crude sexual talk. A couple makes out. The camera lingers on a female character's wet tank top and backside. |
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ViolenceThis is a very bloody and gory movie. There's an extremely graphic suicide scene, characters are hung from meat hooks (and then tortured), sliced, ripped, cut, shot, murdered in various ways, run over, etc. We see many severed limbs. Stabbings, impalings |
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LanguageNonstop extreme profanity. |
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Social BehaviorYou wouldn't want your kid acting like any of these characters. Crude and tasteless humor ("I guess that's what brains look like--kind of like lasagna.") |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoThe sheriff drinks and drives. The main characters smuggle and smoke marijuana. |
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